Topaz is a 1969 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is a Cold War and spy story, adapted from the book of the same name by Leon Uris and closely based on the 1962 Sapphire Affair (sapphire was replaced by another jewel hence the title) involving French SDECE spy Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli (a friend of Leon Uris) who "ha[d] played a considerable part in helping the U.S. discover the presence of Russian offensive missiles in Cuba".
It stars Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, Claude Jade, Michel Subor, Karin Dor, John Vernon, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, John Forsythe, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Per-Axel Arosenius.
The story is set in 1962 and opens with images of a Soviet military parade on the Red Square. In Copenhagen, a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer defects to the West with his wife and daughter. CIA agent Nordstrom (John Forsythe) debriefs him and learns that Russian missiles are to be posted in Cuba. Nordstrom enlists the aid of his friend and French agent André...